From Low Intensity War to Mafia War: Taxi violence in South Africa (1987 - 2000)

Abstract

Thank you to all who participated in this research. Also, thank you to Wardi Leppan, Project Officer, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), for his ongoing support of, and insight into, the Violence and Transition Project. The background research for this report is based on a doctoral thesis, 'Taxi wars in South Africa's transition: The informalisation of violence and the economy', examined in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge, England. Financial Support for this thesis was provided by way of: the Overseas Research Student award, Cambridge Commonwealth Trust scholarship, Cambridge Political Economy Society scholarship, Clare Hall bursary, and the Smuts Memorial Fund grant; and is hereby acknowledged. This booklet was funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The Violence and Transition Series is a product of an extensive research project conducted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) into the nature and extent of violence during South Africa’s transition from apartheid rule to democracy. This series comprises a set of self-contained, but interrelated reports, which explore violence across the period 1980 to 2000 within key social loci and areas, including: • Revenge Violence and Vigilantism; • Foreigners (immigrants and refugees); • Hostels and Hostel Residents; • Ex-combatants; • State Security Forces (police and military), and • Taxi violence.